The gown we in the SCA call the “Burgundian” was a popular
formal gown worn from the middle to the late 15th century by many
different countries in northern Europe, including France
and England.This style of gown is identified by its low
V-neck with a wide collar and tight belt worn just under the bust.This gown evolved from the popular fashion in
the early 15th century, the V-necked houppelande.The houppelande
style was typically worn with a double horn headdress.The “Burgundian” has a fitted bodice compared
to the houppelandeand a slimmer
sleeve.It is worn with a single cone
headdress the SCA calls the henin or atours.The lower classes wore a simpler dress called a kirtle, this kirtle may
also have been the under dress for the formal V-necked gown.As in most styles of the times, a smock or
chemise made from linen was worn next to the skin.

Why do we call this style “Burgundian”?Burgundy
is an area in Europe that is now part of France,
but in the 1400s it was its own independent state with a strong Duke.It was the wealthiest country in Europe
during this period, with a strong wool and linen trade.This made the small Duchy politically
important and a fashion trend setter.The last Duke of Burgundy, Charles the Bold, was defeated by the Swiss
in 1476 (he died in 1477), resulting in France
and Germany
splitting up the land from the once powerful Duchy.This defeat lead to the decline of the
popularity of Burgundian fashion.

The 1420s to 1450s Houppelande beginning to transition to “Burgundian”

Petrus Christus

St Eligius in His Workshop, 1449

Rogier van der Weyden
Seven Sacraments (left wing) (detail) 1445-50

The “Burgundian”
style popular beginning in the 1450s declining in the 1480s

This is the most difficult part of this style of dress to
pin down.It does not show at the edges
of the kirtle and rarely depicted being worn alone.This leaves some detective work to be
done.It seems to have a square or deep
rounded neckline with a narrow band at the edge that the body and sleeves are
pleated into.The chemise is likely made
from white linen.The sleeves are full,
but not “Italian” full, the chemise sleeves must fit under a slim fitted
sleeve.A good economical size is to use
half the width of the fabric being used for each sleeve.The sleeves are long, to just beyond the
wrist.There are images from the period
that show the chemise sleeve tapering to about the width of the wrist.It could not be determined from the images if
there was a cuff or not.This tapered
look can also be achieved by folding up the fullness at the wrist then rolling
the sleeve up a few turns.This folding
keeps the chemise sleeve tucked up and out of your way when you are not wearing
the over sleeves.

c. 1470
Detail the Massacre of the Innocents. Right panel of triptych on early life of Christ.

The kirtle was worn by the middle and lower classes and wasprobably the
supporting under dress for the “Burgundian” gown.The material used to construct this dress
would most likely have been wool, lined with linen.The dress is bust supporting which holds the
breasts in their natural position, not raised high on the chest as earlier in
the 15th century.At this
point of the century, it does not flatten the chest.At the end of the 15th century and
into the next fashion style of the early 16th century the kirtle
became tighter, flattening the bust.The
bodice eventually became stiffened with cording or glued strips of linen,
transforming into the corset worn in the 16th century.

The dress used a 4 panel bodice construction method with
many variations in neckline and waist seams.The neckline could be round, slightly V-ed or square.In addition, in the 1450s Rogier van der
Weyden painted a few kirtles that had a raglan sleeve as well.The dress can have a waist seam in the front
and back, only in the back or none at all.Length of this dress seemed to be the top of the shoe.Lower classes could have a “ruffled” bottom
edge.On some kirtles, a gray material
is visible that could be fur used as a guarding on the hem.

The kirtle sleeves are commonly short (a long sleeve is less
common) with the seam on the back of the arm as in the previous century.Modern sleeves have the seam under the arm so
the seam runs along under the arm ending up at base of the palm, Sleeves in the
period were commonly cut with the seam at the back of the arm with the seam
ending on the outside of the wrist, near the little finger.A note of advice: when you use the back of
the arm seam there is a right and a left sleeve, they are not identical as in
modern sleeves. Many times, the kirtle was worn with long decorative
over-sleeves that were pinned to the dress’s attached short sleeve.The pinned on sleeves could be a fancy
brocade fabric or a contrasting solid color.These sleeves can be removed when you are doing work, or if you are just
too hot.

The most common closure is front lacing, there are also
several depictions of left side lacing as well.There is little visual evidence of back lacing the kirtle.The lace passes though eyelets or lacing
rings, rather than metal grommets.The
lace is done in the spiral fashion, rather than in the X fashion popular in the
SCA.It laces best from top to bottom;
lacing this way is more supportive for the bust than from bottom to top...When doing spiral lacing, the eyelets on each
side do not line up directly across from each other; instead they are offset so
the eyelet on one side is offset by half of the eyelet spacing, making a zigzag
pattern from one side to the other.

X laced with holes placed
directly across from each other.

Spiral lacing with holes
placed offset.

Using in the spiral lacing method will tremendously improve
the fit of the dress.It will lace
closed much tighter and not bunch up as is common with X laced grommets.Also hand bound eyelets are very simple and
work really well.If you choose to use
lacing rings you can use small drapery rings or small jewelry rings (use the
solid jump rings or split rings rather than unsoldered jump rings).

The
V-necked gown was worn over the kirtle by the upper classes.It had a wide deep V neck with a collar and
was worn with a wide tight belt worn high under the bust.This gown could be made from wool, silk
velvet or brocaded silk, it was almost always lined in fur.Typically the collar, cuffs, and hem guarding
are all made from the same color material.The most popular colors for these accessories are white, gray and black,
most likely in period they were made from fur.Since fur is not the most accessible material a good substitute is
cotton velveteen.

The sleeves are long and fitted with a belled cuff.The gown sleeve is cut in the same manner as
the kirtle sleeve; with the seam at the back of the arm.The cuff can be long enough to come down low
over the hand, about to the beginning of the fingers.Sometimes you see this gown with a wrist
length sleeve and small cuff; this style could be the belled cuff turned back
for easy movement of the hands.

The neckline is a deep V in the front and a shallow V in the
back.There are depictions of gold
cording lacing across the front of the deep V neckline, probably to hold the
gown up onto the shoulders.In the back
the collar narrows similar to the front and tucks under the belt, similar to
the front...The deep V in the front is
filled in with a simple rectangle of fabric, called a pièce (Scott, 142).This piece of fabric is simply pinned to the
kirtle to cover the lacings.The pièce
was typically made from velvet or satin, satin at the time being a smooth silk
fabric.

A note about wearing a kirtle underneath, please do.You will achieve a much more flattering look
if you do.The belt is not a bust
supporting device and will not produce good silhouette without the kirtle.

The hem of the gown is typically overly long, about 6 inches
past the floor, usually guarded with the same material as the collar.The guarding could be just about 6 inches to
about 2 ½ feet, showing real opulence.The extra length of hem can be tucked up under the arm for easy
walking.This method works well, as long
has you have nothing to carry, or anything that requires two hands.Using this method is not recommended for
walking up stairs holding a basket.The
best way to tuck up the hem for more vigorous movement is to wear a belt over
the gown and pull the extra length over the belt.This holds up the hem for hands free
movement.When ladies were depicted
traveling or dancing this belt treatment is often seen.

Waist seam or not?

This style is usually worn with a wide tight fitting belt,
leaving the question of a waist seam unanswered.The correct silhouette can be achieved using
either cutting method.The gowns that
are depicted without the belt do not show a waist seam, but these depictions
did not show any seam lines in the gown at all.The gown of the following fashion did have a waist seam,
the kirtle could have a waist seam.There are examples of Italian gowns from the same time period that were
similar to the “Burgundian” gown that were constructed with a waist seam.None of these observations give any
definitive proof to the waist seam theory.Since none of these gowns survived to today we will never know.

Tips For The Waist
Seam Method:

If you would like to use the waist seam method you will need
to draft a short waisted V-necked bodice pattern that ends about the bottom of
the rib cage.For the skirt cut 4 skirt
panels so that the width of the top of each of the panels is equal to ¼ of the
bottom edge of the bodice.You do not
want to use pleating to fit the skirt to the bodice it should fit neatly.To make the skirt nice and full you will also
need to cut 4 gores, cut more if you like and have the fabric.Put one or two gores in between each skirt
panel, the point of the gore should be inserted about 1 inch below the top of
the skirt panels.If there has been an
error made in cutting and the skirt panels are too short and there is not
enough skirt to fit around the bodice, put the gores in higher so they will add
to the waist length.

Tips For The No Waist
Seam Method:

Start with a 4 panel gown construction method you like.Mistress Marcel’s website listed below is
wonderful site to learn how to fit and cut a 4 panel gown.The fitting is slightly different, but not a
lot.Do not fit the gown through the
stomach as was done in the 14th century.The gown should be fitted though to about the
bottom of the rib cage. When placing the gores put the top of the gore just at
the bottom of the ribcage where the bodice fitting has ended.

While wearing the kirtle alone many times women were
depicted wearing a veil wrapped around their head.This veil can have plain edges or one edge
can be ruffled or goffered.This
“ruffle” is produced by changing the tension between the warp and weft threads
of the fabric as it is being woven; it is not attached as a separate piece as
we do in the SCA.This veil is very
long; in the painting “Entombment” by Rogier van der Weyden (c. 1464) a woman
is depicted with her veil wrapped loose around her shoulders.The veil is long enough to wrap from her
right shoulder, across the front of her body around her back over her right arm
and drapes down at least one more foot; about 75 inches.From several different depictions it seems
that the veil was commonly wrapped around the head from back to front.Working women are sometimes depicted with a
turban style headdress.The turban look
can be achieved by tying up the loose ends of this draped veil.Hoods

Another head covering for the lower classes worn along with
the kirtle is the open hood.This hood
similar the 14th century versions, but is less fitted at the neck
and is worn open rather than buttoned closed.These hoods were probably made from wool lined with linen.In addition to black, these hoods could be
made in bright colors such as red or blue.

The most popular hat of the time is called in the SCA a
henin, this is a 19th century term, the term used in the period was
atours, atours in modern French means finery.There are other types of hats worn as well; a
very large stuffed turban hat was also popular.To limit the scope of this discussion the henin and its variable forms
will be discussed here

The henin style of hat had a cone shape that could be
truncated or come almost to a point, but never perfectly pointed.It was worn at the front edge of the hair
line with the back of the hat coming to a bit over the ears.The hat could be anywhere from a short 6
inches tall just covering the back of the head with a flat top, to the full
very long 30 inch steeple style.Often
sheer white silk veils were draped over the henin.The length of the veils varied from shoulder
to floor length.Sometimes the veil was
worn under the hat and puffed out through the opening at the point.Other times the veils were draped in layers
over the hat in stunning fashion as in the butterfly henin.To achieve this style two wires are attached
like antennae to the front of the hat.The wires suspend the veil in a high floating position.

The truncated versions commonly had a line of decoration
along the bottom edge, probably embroidery.There is one instance of a decorated steeple style henin; it was Maria Portinari’s hat in the painting “The
Portinari Triptych” by Hugo van der Goes c. 1476-79.

http://gallery.euroweb.hu/art/g/goes/portinar/right.jpgThis hat was decorated in pearls with T’s and
M’s; her and her husband’s initials. Other
times beautiful jeweled pendants were pinned to the hat.This addition of jewels can typically be seen
on the lappet style henin and the truncated style as well.

Another variation for the henin was the addition of a lappet
of black velvet at the front of the hat.This extra band of fabric could be short, to the bottom of the ears, or
long enough to come down over the shoulders.It typically has a slight flip at the bottom edge.This possibly marks the transition to the
“Anne of Brittany hood”, the popular headdress of the next fashion in the late
15th century and early 16th century.

Looking at many images of these tall hats worn in the period
you see that strange little black loop on the forehead. There are also
depictions of women wearing bands with the forehead loops without wearing a
hat.The theory is this loop kept the
hat from sliding back on the head by providing a counter balance point.The loop also may have been attached to the
hat itself rather than to a separate band.

The trick to the loop and band is that the wire is not just
placed along the bottom edge of the band the wire is placed at the top edge of
the band with a longer loop than you see inside the band for extra
stability.When the wire is simply sewn
to the bottom edge of the band the loop simply flips up when pressure is
applied to it.A suggested type of wire
to use is small gauge piano wire, not coat hanger wire.Coat hanger wire is much too hard and it is
painful to wear, the piano wire is more flexible and very comfortable.For extra stability the very tall steeple
henins might have also been pinned in the back to the a
bun worn high under the hat.

Henin Construction
theory

The popular theory is that these hats were woven from reeds
like baskets.This method henin weaving
works very well with ¼ inch wide flat reed.It is much easier to get an even cone shape weaving the hat from the
point to the head opening. It is still
difficult to free form weave the hat to be the desired length with the correct
size opening for the head.To simplify
this problem, the hat could be woven over a form of some kind, a rolled up
piece of poster board would be a practical solution.This formed weaving method would make woven
construction of the hat very simple.

Accessories

Hans
Memling,
Passion (Greverade) Altarpiece (detail)
1491

Belts for the kirtle:

The kirtle is sometimes shown with a thin leather belt with
two round metal tips connected by a chain.There are instances that you can see Latin phrases mounted to the belt.The belt is Worn low over the hips.

Belts for the gown

The V necked gown was worn with a wide belt, it can match the collar
and cuffs or it can be a different contrasting pattern or color.There are several depictions of women wearing
red belts, possibly could be made from soft leather.Mary of Burgundy is wearing a brocade belt
that matches her hat.The belt is
commonly closed with a large decorative D shaped buckle at the side front, not
quite under the ladies arm.Some of the
middle class illuminations show the belts buckled in the back.These belts seem to be slightly wider in the
front tapering to accommodate a smaller buckle, possibly 1 ½ inch buckle, in
the back.There is one illumination
showing a belt that seems to be hooked or laced in the front with a decorative
gold closure.

The belt could be decorated with
metal belt mounts.The depictions of
decorative mounts have been of gold colored circle and diamond shapes.The belt can be made from two layers of
fabric, without a layer of stiffener.Since they are so wide and snug around the stomach the soft flexible
belts are very comfortable.

The shoe worn with the “Burgundian”
style gown was called a poulaine, it was a pointed shoe sometimes worn with
pattens.In the picture of Marriage of
Renaud de Monauban on the previous page you can see the lady is wearing a much
more pointed shoe with the gown.The
shoe shown to the right on this page is being worn with a kirtle.

Pattens were a type of wooden clog worn under the shoe to
protect it.Typically in the paintings
and illuminations seen to create this document the shoes are shown as black and
the leather bands on the pattens red.

In some paintings women are shown wearing a small decorated
drawstring pouch suspended from a long cord.The pouch hung to about the knee or mid calf on most of the
wearers.This pouch is worn underneath
the over gown.These pouches seem to
have been decorated with embroidery or beading.A circular cut drawstring pouch would work well. When making these
pouches use a separate cord to hang the pouch from the cord used to cinch the
pouch shut.This will make it much
easier to access the contents of the pouch.

King Renè’s Book of Love, fol. 55
c. 1460.

(Unterkircher, 55)

Placket/Pièce

A contrasting piece of material was pinned to the kirtle
over the lacings and worn tucked into the over gown to fill in the V-neck of
the gown.In the period it was made from
silk satin or velvet.This accessory is
simply made from a square of material that is wide as your shoulders and long
enough that it will tuck under the belt.

Jewelry

Necklaces

Black or gold beaded necklaces are the most common style of
necklaces worn with the V necked gown.The black necklaces were probably made jet or onyx beads.Jet is a hard coal like substance that is
still used today for jewelry.The
necklace was worn high around the neck, around the level of the collar
bones.Typically they had a row of beads
and then variations of loops beads hanging from the supporting row.These necklaces seem to be very similar to
modern net beaded necklaces.One
difference is the size beads used in the period could have been larger than
seed beads used in the modern patterns.The necklaces in the period are painted as dots many times.If seed beads were used they are so small
from a distance the painter would likely paint the necklace as a thin line
rather than individual dots.

There are beautiful examples of more elaborate necklaces as
well.There is the many rowed necklace by
Petrus Christus and the beautiful enameled flower necklace by Memling..

Earrings are not typically depicted
in the paintings of the time, so there is very little evidence of the ladies
wearing them during this time period..There is a drawing of Agnes
Sorrel done by a French painter named Jean Fouquet.In this drawing she is wearing small pearl
earrings suspended from what looks like a piece of wire.These earrings are very simple to make with a
single pearl suspended from a French hook or kidney wire.If you do not like to go without earrings
this style may suit well

Rings were a status symbol and a visible way to show your
wealth.Many rings could be worn on the same
finger, wearing them at both the lower and upper knuckles.Rings could be simple bands or rings that had
un-faceted set stones, ruby, sapphire and emerald being popular.Love rings or “poesy” rings were also
popular.These rings had love inscriptions
worked onto them.